Slipper



March 31, 1970 E. A. CONNELLY SLIPPER Filed April 22, 1968 INVENTOR. EAR LE A. CONNELLY FIG.2

United States Patent 3,503,077 SLIPPER Earle A. Connelly, Troy, N.C.,assignor to Russell Hosiery Mills, Inc., Star, N.C., a corporation ofNorth Carolina Filed Apr. 22, 1968, Ser. No. 722,893 Int. 'Cl. A41b11/00; A43b 3/ 1 0 US. Cl. 2-239 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aslipper or slipper sock of seamless construction for covering the footand ankle in which circular courses are knit with stretchable yarn toform a tubular body. The body is seamed closed at one end with the otherfoot entry end having an elastic selvage, and an elastic circular bandis axially spaced from the selvage to gather the body to the wearersankle. Terry and fleeced or brushed terry loops may extend from the bodyfabric in selected areas with the upper portion of the body capable offorming a turned down cuff.

BACKGROUND, BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJEC- TIVES OF THE INVENTION Varioustypes of low cut foot covers are available to be worn inside of shoesincluding those that are made from circular and flat knit fabric bycutting and sewing the fabrics to the desired contour and sewing anelastic band to provide the desired gathering below the ankle of thewearer. Other types of sneaker socks are circular knit and provided withintegrally knit elastic tops to hug the foot of a wearer generally belowthe ankle. In addition, with the advent of stretchable thermoplasticyarns, various types of foot covers have become available both with andwithout reciprocated heel constructions. Various types of combinationyarns including stretchable nylon yarn and Orlon yarns have beenemployed in stretchable footwear to provide a softer hand by tumblingand other methods for fleecing the Orlon yarn. In addition, it is Wellknown to provide hosiery with a circular knit body fabric from whichextends terry loops in selected areas as in cushion sole socks includingthat shown in U.S. Patent 2,183,862. Circular knit fabrics of the typeshown in US. Patent 3,059,458 with integrally knit elastic selvageswithout any reciprocation in the heel section have been utilized byseaming one end to form a foot cover.

However, various types of novelty foot covers and slippers of knitconstruction are available in the market but generally these productsare costly to produce since the fabric must be pieced together or haveelastic bands sewn to the foot entry portion to provide the desired fitcharacteristics. Most of the socks of the type shown in US. Patents2,333,373; 2,344,773; 2,400,692; 2,904,980; and 3,130,566, among others,are primarily for wearing inside of a shoe preferably beneath the ankleof a wearer with some having a turned-down cuff portion.

The present invention relates to a slipper or slipper sock of seamlessknit construction that is loose fitting with spaced apart stretchableelastic bands for gathering the fabric adjacent to the ankle of a wearerwith the body of the slipper sock having an elastic foot entry openingat one end and a closure at the other end. Preferably the seamless knitfabric is made from a stretchable thermoplastic yarn such as nylon withthe foot entry opening having an elastic selvage of the type shown inU.S. Patent 2,344,350,

and the elasticity is provided either by a rubber yarn or a Spandexyarn. An additional elastic portion, preferably integrally knit as bylaying-in the elastic or Spandex yarn, is provided intermediate theaxial length of the sock at a location in axially spaced relation to theselvage with the number of courses of rubber or Spandex yarn varyingdepending upon the extent of gathering or snugness desired. The axialspacing provides the formation of a turned or rolled cufl? portionpositioned in the area of the ankle of the wearer resembling that of aturtle-neck.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a relativelyinexpensive slipper sock of circular knit construction with spaced apartintegral elastic bands for supporting the sock on the foot of a wearercovering the foot and the ankle.

Another objective of this invention is to provide a slipper sock ofstretchable characteristics with a cushion lining.

Another objective of this invention is to provied a slipper or slippersock having stretchable characteristics of seamless knit constructionthat Will cover the foot and ankle of a wearer and provide a turned-downnovelty plush culf portion.

Yet another objective of this invention is to provide a stretchableseamless knit sock having a body portion with substantially continuouswales to form a loose fitting foot-receiving pouch with spaced apartelastic portions for gathering the pouch about the ankle of a wearer.

Still another objective of this invention is to provide a loose fittingslipper sock of seamless knit construction with a cushion surface inselected areas.

Other objectives of this invention will become more readily apparentfrom the following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing in which like characters of reference designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views.

FIGURE DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a slipper sockwith a turned-down cuff embodying one form of this invention on the footof a wearer.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of a slipper sock in the relaxedcondition illustrating the exterior with a rectilinear transverse footseam.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the slipper sock of FIG. 2 turnedinside out illustrating schematically terry embodiment of a slipper sockhaving a reciprocated heel construction and an arcuate foot closureseam.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawing and particularly to FIG.1, there is illustrated a seamless knit slipper sock 10 on the foot of awearer having a toe portion 11, a heel portion 12 in the tubular body 11which extends to cover the ankle of a wearer with the tubular fabricbeing gathered about the ankle by a layer elastic band 13 intermediatethe overall length of the body 11 above which there is a turned cuffportion 14 at the terminal or foot entry end 15 (FIGS. 2 and 3) there isprovided an elastic selvage 16 for gently hugging the ankle or lowerportion of the leg of a wearer whether in the turned-down condition asshown in FIG. 1 or in the up-turned position shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Theturned-down cuff 14 presents a fleecy or pile plush which may extendthroughout the entire interior of the slipper sock or in selected areas,as preferred.

The circular knit or seamless tubular fabric for the body 11 may be knitin a conventional manner on a Scott & Williams Model No. BS knittingmachine of the type shown in US. Patent 1,152,850 of Sept. 7, 19-15 withmodificatons made thereto that are well known in the knitting artincluding incorporation of a rubber or elastic yarn feed attachment forlaying-in an elastic yarn whether of rubber or Spandex. The elastic yarnmay be laid or knit-in, as preferred, in the selvage in a conventiona1manner as disclosed in U.S. Patent 2,344,350, among others, to form asuitable highly elastic selvage without the use of a dial, if preferred.The body of the sock is knit throughout of circular knit coursespreferably using stretchable thermoplastic yarn of multifilamentconstruction such as two ends of 70' denier stretchable nylon yarn orother denier depending upon the desired weight of the knitted fabric.Alternatively, a blend of stretchable and non-stretchable yarn may beemployed to achieve the desired stretch characteristics in the ultimatefabric, but when the term stretchable yarn is employed herein, it shallinclude and not be restricted solely to a stretchable thermoplastic yarnof nylon but will include blends or stretchable non-thermoplastic yarn.

During the knitting of each tubular body 11, several circular courses oflaid-in rubber or Spandex yarn may be included to contract the fabricradially in the band 17 that is spaced axially from the selvage 15forming therebetween a series of circular knit courses of fabric forminga band or cuff portion 14 in the tubular body 11. The remainder of thetubular body 11 beyond the band 17 is formed of circular knit courses ofthe desired length with several courses of cut yarn preferably in theterminal courses to prevent raveling before discharge from the knittingmachine.

In one embodiment of the slipper sock, the overall length upon dischargefrom the knitting machine is ten inches with the intermediate band 17being spaced axially from the selvage approximately three inches, andthe relaxed folded width of the fabric being approximately six inches.Approximately ten to twenty courses of rubber or Spandex yarn may belaid-in in the circular courses to ,form the band 17 but this may varydepending upon the desired hugging effect for gathering the fabric aboutthe ankle of a wearer.

The tubular body 11 is then seamed closed by an overedge seam 18 thatextends rectilinearly across the fabric to form the foot closure end 19.The overedge seam may be formed on a Merrow overedge seaming machine ora Union Special overedge seaming machine whether of single or two-needleconstruction preferably with stretchable nylon yarn to form a strongseam that is relatively flat when the fabric is placed on the foot of awearer. In FIG. 6 there is illustrated a slipper sock 20 ofsubstantially the same construction as that described heretofore withthe exception that the tubular body 21 is closed at one end by means ofan arcuate and inclined overedge seam 22 providing one side of thefabric with a longer length than the opposite side to produce a betterfitting enclosure opposite the foot entry opening 23. The longerdepending lobe 24 may be considered the toe portion and the short lobe25 may be considered to fit the heel of a wearer. In FIG. 7, there isillustrated a further modification wherein there is provided areciprocatorily knit heel pocket 26 in the body 27 which heel pocket hasthe characteristic heel gore line 28 conventionally produced duringcylinder reciprocation. Above and below the reciprocated heel pocket 26,the fabric in the body 27 is circular knit. The overedge foot closureseam 29 is arcuately formed providing a depending toe portion lobe 30similar to that shown in FIG. *6.

The overall axial length in the transverse seam 18 form as shown inFIGS. 2 and 3 may be preferably on the order of 9 /2 to 9% inches. Inthe embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and. 7, the overall length in the toeportion lobes 24 and 30 to the selvage is approximately 9 inches and theoverall length from the selvage to the heel-receiving lobes 25 or 26 isapproximately 8 inches.

It has been found desirable to provide, in some instances, a terryfabric 31 as shown in FIG. 4 with the terry loops depending andintegrally knit with the face fabric in the conventional manner forforming a terry knit fabric such as disclosed in' US. Patent 2,183,862,among others. The terry loops are usually formed over the body portionof a sinker thereby providing elongated loops that extend from the bodyportion of the fabric that is formed with the inner-connected courses ofbody loops. Preferably the terry loops are formed or Orlon yarn toprovide a soft interior to the slipper sock. It has also been founddesirable to subject the terry loops that form the pile or terry loopson the interior of the slipper sock to a loop raising and relativelygentle brushing action causing the loops to be raised without severingand Without damaging the fabric thereby producing a plush effect throughthe use of conventional carding or napping equipment from which prongsengage the terry loops to form the plush surface 32 in the fabric shownin FIG. 5 and in the turneddown cuff 14 in FIG. 1.

It will be readily apparent that the terry loops as well as the plushmay be only in selected areas of the fabric, as desired.

Some of the wrinkles that may appear in the finished slipper sock may beremoved by pressing or boarding, if found necessary, before packaging.Obviously,- the slipper socks may be dyed in an appropriate color afterknitting and before seaming or after seaming.

Also, the terry loops may be formed of cotton yarns rather than OrlonWhere a plush effect may not be desired.

What I claim is:

1. A seamless knit slipper sock to be worn without shoes comprising atubular body covering a wearers foot and ankle having circular coursesof stretchable body yarn, said body having a closure seam at one'end anda cuff portion at the end opposite said closure seam, a non-ravelelastic selvage along the upper edge of said cuff portion for a footentry, and an elastic circular band integrally knit with said body, saidelastic circular band being spaced from said elastic selvage forgathering the body around the ankle of a wearer, said cuff portionfolding down so that said elastic selvage is proximate to and insurrounding relation with said elastic circular band forming adecorative cuff covering at least a portion of the ankle.

2. A slipper sock as clamied in claim 1, at least some of said bodyhaving terry loops extending therefrom.

3. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 1, said body having terry loopsextending therefrom at least in the sutf portion.

4. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 1, said body having terry loopsextending therefrom throughout the fabric.

5. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 2 and said terry loops having aplush surface.

6. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 2, said terry loops being unbrokenand having a fleecy surface.

7. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 1, said seam extendingtransversely across said body.

-8. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 7, said scam ex tendingrectilinearly transversely acoss said body.

9. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 7 said seam eX- 3,059,458 10/1962Sarbo 66-171 tending arcuately across said body. 3,274,804 9/ 1966Thorneburg et a1. 2-239 XR 10. A slipper sock as claimed in claim 1,said body having a heel gore portion therein. FOREIGN PATENTS 598,065 2/1948 Great Britain. References Cited 951,610 3/ 1964 Great Britain.

UNITED STATES PATENTS JAMES R. BOLER, Primary Examiner Reymes-Cole 66185XR

